Choosing the right trees

Use the tables below to help choose the right tree for your situation.

Soil Moisture

Moisture	Soil Texture
	Sandy (Coarse) At least two-thirds sand	Loamy (Medium)	Clay (Fine) At least one-third clay
Wet	Black willow Cottonwood Tamarack	Black willow Cottonwood Black ash White cedar Balsam fir	Black willow Cottonwood
Moist	Norway (red) pine White pine Black spruce White spruce Paper birch Yellow birch Red oak	Black walnut Silver maple White cedar White spruce Paper birch Red oak White oak Balsam fir Yellow birch	Red oak Green ash Silver maple White spruce Paper birch
Moderately Dry	Norway (red) pine Jack pine Bur oak Red oak Yellow birch	Green ash Red oak White spruce	Green ash Silver maple Cottonwood
Dry	Jack pine Bur oak	Green ash Eastern red cedar	Green ash Eastern red cedar

Shade Tolerance

Very Tolerant (will grow in shade)	Balsam fir Sugar maple
Tolerant	American basswood Black spruce Northern white cedar
Intermediate (will grow in mixed sun and shade)	White oak Bur oak Eastern white pine White ash Green ash Northern red oak Red maple Yellow birch White spruce
Intolerant	Black ash Silver maple Black walnut Butternut Paper birch Norway (red) pine
Very Intolerant (needs full sunlight)	Tamarack Poplar Eastern red cedar Jack pine Quaking aspen

Types of seedlings

Seedlings grown outside from seeds are called bareroot. This means their roots are separated from the soil when moved to their planting site. To get larger seedlings, staff will take these seedlings and move them to an area with more space to grow. These are called bareroot transplants.

Seedlings are described by their age, shown as two numbers separated by a hyphen. The first number indicates the years spent in the seed bed, while the second number represents the years in a transplant bed. For example, a 2-0 seedling spent two years in the initial bed, and a 2-2 seedling spent a total of four years growing.